| Pale batis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| male | |
 | |
| female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Platysteiridae |
| Genus: | Batis |
| Species: | B. soror |
| Binomial name | |
| Batis soror | |
The pale batis (Batis soror), also known as the Mozambique batis or East coast batis is a species of small bird in the wattle-eyes family, Platysteiridae. It occurs in eastern Africa, mostly in lowland miombo woodland.
The pale batis is an active, black, white and grey bird which is pale grey above with a black face mask bordered by a thin white supercilium, yellow eye and a pale grey back, mottled with faint white spots. It has white underparts marked with a black band across the breast in males; females have a pale rufous breast band and a similar coloured spot on the chin. The bill and legs are black. Immature birds are similar to the female except that the breast band is browner and the underparts have a buffy wash. [3] The pale batis measures 10.5–11.5 cm (4.1–4.5 in) in length and weighs 8–13.1 g (0.28–0.46 oz). [4]
The territorial call of the pale batis is a repeated, mournful, long and piping 3-note “pook pook pook” which is repeated up to 12 times at a constant rate, [4] with which the female duets giving excited "wik-wik" calls. Otherwise the repertoire consists of typical batis bill snaps, churrs and whistles. [3]
Eastern Africa from coastal Kenya including the Arabuko Sokoke National Park south through eastern and south-eastern Tanzania, the islands of Zanzibar and Mafia, to Mozambique as far south as the Save River, inland to south eastern Malawi, and the east-facing slopes of the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. [4]
The pale batis typically occurs in lowland miombo woodland, normally below 500 m (1,600 ft) in coastal woodlands where there is a mosaic of forest and dense scrub. [3] Can also be found in mopane [5] and acacia around the edges of its distribution. [3] In the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe it is found up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level in tall Uapaca kirkiana stands, thickets of Philippia spp. and woodland dominated mountain acacia. [3]
Little is known about the feeding habits of the pale batis, other than that it forages by gleaning insects from leaves and branches, [5] it occasionally gleans while hovering and it often joins mixed foraging parties. [3] Its social behaviour is probably similar to other batises in that it is not normally seen in groups larger than pairs or family groups, although the males may gather in single sex aggregations known as "parliaments" immediately prior to the breeding season, when they fly about excitedly, snapping their bills, fripping their wings and making "wik" calls. The male has a zigzag courtship display flight which he performs along with wing fripping, tail fanning and fluffing up the long, white spotted rump feathers while giving strident "week-week-week" calls. The females joins in the calls with her own excited "wik-wik" call. [3]
The nest of the pale batis is a small, deep cup built of thin strips of Combretum bark and fragments of grass inflorescences, held together with spiders webs. The nest is normally situated in the fork of a branch which is at least 6 m (20 ft) above the ground, a small clutch of about 1–2 eggs is usually laid during the period September–November. [5] The female is responsible for all of the incubation and initially she carries out all the feeding of the young, the male joins in feeding when the chicks are older. Only the immediate vicinity of the nest is defended. [3]
The lesser grey shrike is a member of the shrike family Laniidae. It breeds in South and Central Europe and western Asia in the summer and migrates to winter quarters in southern Africa in the early autumn, returning in spring. It is a scarce vagrant to western Europe, including Great Britain, usually as a spring or autumn erratic.
Platysteiridae is a family of small, stout passerine birds of the African tropics. The family contains the wattle-eyes, batises and shrike-flycatchers. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae. These insect-eating birds are usually found in open forests or bush. They hunt by flycatching, or by taking prey from the ground like a shrike. The nest is a small, neat cup, placed low in a tree or bush.
The masked shrike is a species of bird in the shrike family, Laniidae. It breeds in southeastern Europe and at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, with a separate population in eastern Iraq and western Iran. It is migratory, wintering mainly in northeast Africa. Although it is a short-range migrant, vagrants have occurred widely elsewhere, including northern and western Europe. It is the smallest member of its genus, long-tailed and with a hooked bill. The male has mainly black upperparts, with white on its crown, forehead and supercilium and large white patches on the shoulders and wings. The throat, neck sides and underparts are white, with orange flanks and breast. The female is a duller version of the male, with brownish black upperparts and a grey or buff tone to the shoulders and underparts. The juvenile has grey-brown upperparts with a paler forehead and barring from the head to rump, barred off-white underparts and brown wings аpart from the white primary patches. The species' calls are short and grating, but the song has melodic warbler-like components.
The pririt batis also known as the pririt puff-back flycatcher or pririt puffback, is a small passerine bird in the wattle-eye family. It is resident in Southern Africa and southwestern Angola.
The golden-breasted bunting is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It occurs in dry open woodlands and moist savanna in Africa south of the Sahara, but is absent from the equatorial forest belt.
The brubru is a species of bushshrike found in most of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only member of the genus Nilaus.
The Rwenzori batis is an endemic bird native to the Albertine Rift montane forests, where it inhabits altitudes of 1,340–3,300 m (4,400–10,830 ft).
Woodwards's batis or the Zululand batis is a species of small bird in the wattle-eyes family, Platysteiridae. It occurs in southeastern Africa where it is found in woodlands and forests.
The Angola batis is a species of bird in the family Platysteiridae. It is found in western central Africa.
The forest batis or short-tailed batis is a species of bird in the wattle-eye family, Platysteiridae occurring in eastern Africa.
The chinspot batis is a small songbird of the genus Batis in the family Platysteiridae which is a common and widespread species in the woodlands of southern Africa from the Eastern Cape north to 3°N in southern Kenya and Gabon. It forms a superspecies with other rather similar members of the genus Batis.
The grey-headed batis is a species of bird in the wattle-eyes family, Platysteiridae, it was previously classified with the Old World flycatchers in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in eastern and central Africa.
The pygmy batis is a very small insectivorous bird which finds its food foraging among leaves, it is a member of the wattle-eyes family, the Platysteiridae. It occurs in the dry savannahs of north-eastern Africa.
The Fernando Pó batis, also known as the Bioko batis, is a species of bird in the family Platysteiridae. It is endemic to the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea.
The Senegal batis is a species of small passerine bird in the wattle-eyes family, Platysteiridae. It occurs in western Africa where it is found in dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It was originally given the binomial name Muscicapa senegalensis by Carl Linnaeus in 1766.
The black-backed puffback is a species of passerine bird in the family Malaconotidae. They are common to fairly common sedentary bushshrikes in various wooded habitats in Africa south of the equator. They restlessly move about singly, in pairs or family groups, and generally frequent tree canopies. Like others of its genus, the males puff out the loose rump and lower back feathers in display, to assume a remarkable ball-like appearance. They draw attention to themselves by their varied repertoire of whistling, clicking and rasping sounds. Their specific name cubla, originated with Francois Levaillant, who derived it from a native southern African name, where the "c" is an onomatopoeic click sound. None of the other five puffback species occur in southern Africa.
The grey-headed bushshrike, colloquially known as the ghostbird, is a species of passerine bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, although relatively absent in Central Africa and the interior of southern Africa. It is the most widespread species of its genus, which consists of large bushshrikes with massive bills and mournful hooting calls. It occurs sparsely in a range of wooded habitats, though typically in denser vegetation within dry or moist savannah. The monogamous pairs occupy woodland with sufficient cover. They are sedentary, but will undertake limited post-breeding movements.
The golden-tailed woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. Its specific name commemorates the 5th Earl of Abingdon. It belongs to a species complex that includes the Knysna woodpecker to the south of its range, and the mostly allopatric Mombasa woodpecker to the northeast, with which it perhaps hybridizes.
Bennett's woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in woodlands and bushes in Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.
Stierling's woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is native to Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania where its natural habitat is tropical dry forests in the Eastern miombo woodlands ecoregion. It is threatened by habitat destruction. The bird is named in honour of the German bird collector N. Stierling.
